By Landon Williams
Miles away from home, away from the surrounding cornfields and on to a place with pretty girls and hot days.
Kayden Thomas, known as KT, is a senior at Delta High School. After graduation KT doesn’t plan on sitting around and letting his life unfold.
Instead he’s taking every opportunity possible and attacking them one by one.
KT was accepted into the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
USC is a top of the line university with only an acceptance rate of 12 percent.
There he will major in business and finance to set himself up for a bright future.
The journey to attain a lifelong goal like this is defined by the trials and tribulations it took to reach it.
KT’s childhood consisted of moving more than it did learning.
It all began three hours away in Michigan City, Ind., but it wasn’t picture perfect. He attended a small school named Hamilton Elementary. Unfortunately it wasn’t the right fit, and neither were the three other elementaries.
Transitioning from school to school started to become his new normal.
Up until it wasn’t.
After four different elementaries and five long years he finally stepped foot into a new program he could later call home.
“Moving from school to school and house to house can be challenging,” KT said. “At the end of the day the will you have to succeed comes from who you are.”
KT enrolled in Delta Middle School thinking it was just another pit stop along the way.
It in fact wasn’t.
After seven years KT will graduate on June 1 still a part of the Delta community.
Although KT has overcome a lot of obstacles, he was not a one-man show.
KT’s mom, Brianna Thomas, has been his biggest supporter since day one.
She only wanted the best for KT and was going to do whatever it took to make that happen.
“When we were moving we tried focusing on being diligent and turning obstacles into opportunities for KT,” Brianna said.
While in Michigan City KT’s mom was trying to attain a job that was in her best interest, but unfortunately she wasn’t able to find what she was looking for.
That’s when she took a shot in the dark and it happened to be a bullseye. She scored a job as a marketing director here in Muncie, and doesn’t plan on turning back.
To get to the point they are at today, they went through many ups and downs.
One of the biggest challenges was having an absentee father figure. KT’s biological father moved the day after birth, and since then they have not kept in touch much.
Through challenges like this it created a bond no one could break between KT and his mother.
Following this bond came two new ones that he will never forget.
Brady Carrigan and David Trimmel, both seniors, would be considered KT’s closest friends.
Brady and KT met through baseball.
KT had found himself on a new team with new teammates.
Summer baseball created a friendship between the two, and it has lasted ever since.
“Throughout the years KT has taught me discipline through his strong work ethic, along with many other things on the field,” Brady said.
When summer ended Brady was the closest thing to a friend he had at Delta. That’s when he started to branch out in hopes of another new friend.
Baseball had brought on another friend that happened to have a similar path on the way to Delta.
Trimmel was a shy first-year student who was also new to Delta.
KT was a mutual friend through one of David’s best friends at Brownsburg High School.
Cathan Stiemann, David’s old friend, played on a travel baseball team with KT. When the name was brought up, they created a friendship of their own.
Since then they have only grown closer.
“As we got closer KT became one of my largest role models,” David said.
KT takes on this position of being his role model simply by striving to be the best version of himself.
His strong work ethic carries on and off the diamond. This was his key to success.
KT’s work has helped him accomplish many feats. He has achieved a ninth rank in the class along with a 1400 SAT score.
That alone played a big role in his college application success.
He was accepted into two colleges — USC and Indiana University — and was wait-listed at Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.
USC stuck out as the right place for him to continue his journey.
“The biggest reason I decided to go to USC was to give myself more opportunities after high school,” KT said.
One of the biggest ups in his life was moving to Delta, getting to spend seven years here and creating memories and receiving opportunities he will never forget.
This summer he will end up back in his old normal, but this time it’s a bigger move than all the others.
With this move, he plans on creating his future.
